.\"	$OpenBSD: rmdir.1,v 1.21 2010/12/03 00:36:15 jmc Exp $
.\"	$NetBSD: rmdir.1,v 1.10 1995/07/25 19:37:35 jtc Exp $
.\"
.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993
.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
.\" the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
.\"
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" are met:
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\"    without specific prior written permission.
.\"
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\"	@(#)rmdir.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
.\"
.Dd $Mdocdate: December 3 2010 $
.Dt RMDIR 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm rmdir
.Nd remove directories
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm rmdir
.Op Fl p
.Ar directory ...
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility removes the directory entry specified by
each
.Ar directory
argument, provided it is empty.
.Pp
Arguments are processed in the order given.
In order to remove both a parent directory and a subdirectory
of that parent, the subdirectory
must be specified first so the parent directory
is empty when
.Nm
tries to remove it.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl p
Each
.Ar directory
argument is treated as a pathname of which all
components will be removed, if they are empty,
starting with the last most component.
(See
.Xr rm 1
for fully non-discriminant recursive removal.)
.El
.Sh EXIT STATUS
The
.Nm
utility exits with one of the following values:
.Pp
.Bl -tag -width Ds -offset indent -compact
.It 0
Each
.Ar directory
argument referred to an empty directory and was removed successfully.
.It \*(Gt0
An error occurred.
.El
.Sh EXAMPLES
Remove the directory
.Pa foobar ,
if it is empty:
.Pp
.Dl $ rmdir foobar
.Pp
Remove all directories up to and including
.Pa cow ,
stopping at the first non-empty directory (if any):
.Pp
.Dl $ rmdir -p cow/horse/monkey
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr rm 1 ,
.Xr rmdir 2
.Sh STANDARDS
The
.Nm
utility is compliant with the
.St -p1003.1-2008
specification.
.Sh HISTORY
A
.Nm
command appeared in
.At v1 .
